In an article that will surely fuel Park City cocktail partyconversation,John Pierson is suggesting that Sundance end its practice of presentingawards.In an article published in the latest issue of Premiere Magazine,Pierson writesthat at a recent Festival advisory board meeting he suggested, “Here’s a

radical idea. If you want to level the playing field, get rid of all the

damn prizes.” According to Pierson, Festival Co-Director NicoleGuillemet told the group that Robert Redford agrees. The discussion, and

ultimate rejection, of Pierson’s proposal followed Guillemet’s news that

the American Spectrum will now have an Audience Award. While in townthis week, John Pierson will be holding court at the Independent FilmChannel’s “Split Screen Outpost,” where he will dispense advice andmoderate online lunchtime chats with filmmakers Errol Morris, MikeFiggis, Chris Smith, and the Hughes Brothers, among others.

>> Party Crashing

Just in time for Park City party-going, Film Threat publisher Chris Gorehasunveiled the “The Top 10 Lines to Use When Crashing a Party in ParkCity” —the list is published in his new book, “The Ultimate Film Festival PartyGuide.”While stand-by lines like “I need to use the bathroom” and “I left mycellularphone in there” made the Top Ten, a less likely entry was, “Karen put meonthe list,” Gore claims, “There’s always a Karen in every crowd. Tryothercommon names like Bob, Harvey, Geoff or Cassian.” As for the oldfavorite,“I’m with the press,” Chris Gore advised that it is “guaranteed to workbetterwhen you feign an accent. People dig a French accent or a Britishaccent.” Chris Gore will be at Slamdance on Sunday for a 6 p.m. fireside

chat, followed by a book party at Dolly’s on Main Street at 6 p.m.

>> Guns n’ Roses Reunion??

Arguably the most talked about Park City party so far is Sunday’s bashcelebrating the Slamdance movie, “Soundman.” Rumors of a post-screeningparty that would reunite Guns n’ Roses began swirling on indieWIRE’sParkCity Central message board last month, and last week the party nabbedcoverage from Variety and MTV. Apparently concerned that interest in the

celebration would overshadow their festival, a Slamdance organizercontactedindieWIRE over the weekend to reaffirm that, “film always comes firstfor us.”A few days later “Soundman” PR rep Linda Brown told indieWIRE thatbecauseof intense interest in the party, the “Soundman” filmmakers have decided

to move the party to a larger space. Brown offered that all “Soundman”screeningattendees will be given a ticket to the post-showing party which willindeed offer a musical performance by former members of Guns n’ Rosesand others. Set to take the stage on Sunday are G n’ R’s Slash, DuffMcKagan, Matt Sorum and Teddy “ZigZag” Andreadis, with Cypress Hills’Sen-Dog Reyes.

>> Perry Farrell Expected at Slamdance

Organizers confirmed late last week that Jane’s Addiction’s PerryFarrell willbe on hand for Slamdance’s opening night movie, “Three Days.” The film,whichis repped by Sloss Special Projects, is a documentary about the band’s1997“I-Itz M’My Party” Relapse Tour.

>> Digital Filmmaking Internet Portal Announced

Coinciding with a presence at Sundance, the RES Media crew (creators ofRESMagazine, and the RES Fest Digital Film Festival) are launchingwww.digitalfilmmaking.com, “a portal site dedicated to digital cinema.”The site, offering resources, how-to articles, an event calendar,interviews, and festival links, will be the most extensive resource onthe subject. The site is expected to launch today.